Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Online NASCAR TV Channel Now A Reality

Turner Sports on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with SPEED that will result in an online innovation aimed directly at NASCAR fans.

The two companies will team up to pool their resources and offer a new broadband video channel called "NASCAR on SPEED" that will be available free of charge at both NASCAR.com and on the NASCAR page over at Yahoo! Sports.

Here is a portion of the official release on the project:

The broadband channel will launch on Wednesday, Sept. 9 and give fans all-access to premium video content from two of the top brands in NASCAR, including three original Webisode series, event coverage and shoulder programming from SPEED. The original content includes:

•Victory Lane Fan Finish: Kenny Wallace, Jimmie Spencer & John Roberts answer comments submitted by viewers online right after the race and give their opinion and perspective on what happened and why. •SPEED’s Race & Chase Preview: Michael Waltrip, Greg Biffle, Chad Knaus and Steve Byrnes will break down what to look for at the next race, drivers to watch and how it could affect the Chase. •SPEED’s Rutledge at Large!: Join Rutledge Wood behind the scenes with drivers and fans, at the track, hamming it up in the in-field and at special NASCAR events. •Signature SPEED "shoulder" programming: NASCAR RaceDay Built by the Home Depot, NASCAR Victory Lane, Trackside, NASCAR Performance, NASCAR Live!, This Week in NASCAR and NASCAR Smarts.

“The partnership between NASCAR.COM and SPEED is a natural, yet groundbreaking collaboration between two of the top brands in the sport, matching the official league Web site with the definite television network for motor sports to offer an even richer online video experience to NASCAR fans,” said Matthew Hong, Vice President and General Manager of Sports Digital for Turner Sports. “NASCAR.COM prides itself on offering the most exclusive, comprehensive and innovative coverage and the celebrated ‘NASCAR on SPEED’ content is an excellent addition to our industry-leading suite of video offerings.”

“This media partnership between the official league Web site and the only network to program from the track all season long proves that serving the NASCAR fan is simply good business,” said Kevin Annison, SPEED VP of Digital & Interactive Media. “NASCAR.COM gets access to popular NASCAR on SPEED video programming, SPEED secures distribution on the No. 1 online outlet for its NASCAR on SPEED programming and NASCAR fans get another way to view some new original programming as well as content from their favorite SPEED programs.”

Turner Sports acquired all of NASCAR’s interactive rights in October 2000 and became the exclusive producer of NASCAR.COM in January 2001. The official online destination of NASCAR, the site consistently ranks among the top three sport league sites on the Internet. In 2008, NASCAR.COM was awarded a Global Media Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) for RaceBuddy as the outstanding interactive platform of the year. The site has also earned an Emmy® for its TrackPass with PitCommand application in 2003.

After the amazing success of TNT's summer NASCAR offerings, it was only natural that Turner would turn its attention to the NASCAR.com website. SPEED has been flirting with additional online programming after TV shows like Wind Tunnel, but making a commitment right now to partner with Turner and use NASCAR.com as a delivery platform is a smart move.

Turner gets the original TV programming that it has struggled to create for NASCAR.com over the years while SPEED gets a level of distribution for its NASCAR programming that is unmatched. As we watch this online offering grow, it should be interesting to see if this can become the platform for a fulltime NASCAR TV network in the future. Right now, it is simply a giant step in the right direction.

Check the NASCAR.com site for this online video offering. Once things get up and running, TDP will revisit this topic and ask for your reviews of the "NASCAR on SPEED" broadband channel.

In the meantime, please feel free to offer your comments on this topic. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

35 comments:

Finally !!!! They're waking up to the ONE technology that they've refused to acknowledge for far too long. The only thing I, personally, can do without is Rutledge. I still cannot understand what his purpose is other than to irritate everyone. His antics are just too silly and rarely has anything to do with the business of racing. Just a comedic pause.

It's free of charge... for now. I presume once they realize how popular it could be, if it becomes such, and I suspect it will, (At least with ESPN's treatment of the telecasts pushing people in this direction) it will probably somehow slide into a pay service..Just an FYI: Many networks do not have a great monetization (sp?) package for online content, and advertisers get more bang for their buck on the tube still. That's why we don't see this happening as often as we'd like. They're still trying to figure out how to make it profitable..-BruceBits and Pieces

I am left wo/words. where did this all come from? how was it kept such a secret form all and TDP? just more questions.

Yes JD, i am glad to see this become a reality.

taken out of context "The two companies will team up to pool their resources and offer a new broadband video channel called "NASCAR on SPEED" that will be available free of charge at both NASCAR.com and on the NASCAR page over at Yahoo! Sports".

am i reading this correct? FREE. wow. who was sleeping at the wheel may have finally woke up. nascar needs this to support/help/keep the sport front and center.

i am sure there will be much to tweek both good and bad, and hope comment and suggestions are taken for what they are worth.

as darbar said "Finally!!!

btw, if not on twitter, i would not have known of this post so soon,just a plug for twitter. JD,i am enjoying twitter, thanks to you. and i was a doubtful thomas in the begining. thanks.

Thanks JD for the information.It would be nice to be able to go to a site that has programs I may have missed and see them.I hope this works out for Nascar.I also hope their web site is an easy to view and use site.

Great news! It's about time they came to an agreement to let the fans get access to the information they want. Heck, I can just avoid the stuff I don't want, just like I usually do on whatever media outlet.

WHY does it have to be broadband? I don't have that, so therefore won't be able to access this. Not everyone has broadband, but only high speed like Roadrunner. By putting it on broadband only, they're greatly limiting their coverage. Kind of like that ESPN 360 that not many people have.

My question now is with SPEED (owned by FOX) and the folks at Turner cooperating with this NASCAR on SPEED feature at NASCAR.com, is this the openings to a potential appearance of RaceBuddy during the FOX races as well as the TNT races now?

@Paul or anyone--how does bandwith work? I often have 3-4 Justin TV sites all race weekend because we never know when JTV will have issues and lose the broadcast. Plus since I work from home I'm sure my connection is doing something in accessing accounts and such.

When the black helicopters fly low over your house, can you actually see my face?

Turner pays NASCAR a ton for the online rights to the sport. SPEED is owned by Fox.

Striking a deal so that a Fox-owned TV network will create original content strictly for a Turner-owned website is a pretty big deal.

If this concept takes off down the stretch, it should be interesting to see how far it could expand. As one reader suggested, streaming the Sirius call of the races on NASCAR.com is a very logical next step.

So I checked YET again if I can get the AT&T $19.95 a mth high speed at my house....for the 30th time, yet again NO!!! But we'd be glad to set ya up w/Wild Blue or Hughes for $40 more a mth than I pay now for the web. And no guarantee that I could load the shows anyway. I just LOVE living in the country, don't get me wrong, but as the Hughes comml shows, it does have it's downfalls. In MI, w/my job teetering on the ledge, I just can't justify it. But....I can go to the library just across the street & catch up on my lunch hr. So that's what I do! But thumbs up to the comin' to the 21st century for Nascar!!

JD, thank you. I sure do wish SPEED on its site or N.com would make replays of Windy Tunnel Extra available. I have not checked MRN, but if I miss a PRN radio show I can go to PRN site and replay show, after its normal broadcast time.

I'm not understanding something, I think. I went to the site, and it just seems to be the same short video clips that speedtv.com has always had. No full shows that I can find. I was hoping for a replay of TWIN, since I missed it.

Right, just clips, and mostly of old shows. But it's a step in the right direction, even if it's stuff we've always known how to access. Now it's going out to far more viewers if I understand right.

I saw most of Victory Lane, but haven't watched TWIN yet. I recorded it myself but been busy. Something I hadn't done before last week was "Wind Tunnel Extra" with TK and PT talking about NASCAR in the rain and other stuff. They got to stretch-out like you used to see on TV, but not anymore when commercials bring megabucks/minute. That was superior TV.

Rutledge is about as important to me as a 1-hour pre-race show. All fluff, little/no substance.